Arkansas inmates snatch keys, take control of part of prison

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Six inmates snatched keys from three correctional officers at a maximum-security prison in Arkansas today and held the officers in an area of the facility for about three hours, the second major disturbance to occur at the penitentiary in less than a month.

The Arkansas Department of Correction said the inmates overpowered the officers and took the keys during recreation call at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker, 30 miles southeast of Little Rock.

The prison has a capacity of 532 inmates and has 295 employees, according to the Department of Correction website.

The three officers were later released with scrapes, bruises and other minor injuries, while an inmate who was not involved in the initial disturbance was taken to a hospital. Shortly after the last officer was released, corrections department spokesman Solomon Graves said the inmates surrendered and the prison began returning to normal operations.

Graves said the injured inmate was in stable condition after suffering injuries that could not be treated by the prison infirmary. Graves said the inmates who had taken the keys had been moved to the Varner Supermax Unit after the incident. The department did not say how the prisoners took the keys from the officers, or whether the inmates had any kinds of weapons.